PLDT Inc. (PLDT) on Thursday said it was re-accelerating its network rollout to serve growing demand for mobile and home broadband services.

“Following a deep-dive review of our internal processes in line with our transformation efforts, we are re-accelerating our network roll-out,” First Vice President Eric Santiago said.

“Capex (capital expenditures) guidance for 2023 is P80-P85 billion and includes investments in capacity to support growing mobile traffic and to support demand for home broadband,” he added.

Santiago said the firm remained focused on achieving its “CIA” —Cloudified, Intelligent and Automated — vision for its network.

“The heart and soul of PLDT and Smart are our strong and resilient, award-winning fixed and wireless networks, which we are continuously optimizing to further improve customer experience and achieve cost and operational efficiencies,” he said.

“This also supports PLDT’s commitment to aid the government in its digitalization goals, our aim to narrow the digital divide and our mission to make our services more accessible to more Filipino.”

PLDT said that as of end-March, it had expanded its fiber footprint to over 1.1 million kilometers or more than 231,000 kilometers of international fiber and over 874,000 kilometers of domestic fiber.

This fiber infrastructure also supports Smart’s 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G network, which cover 97 percent of the country’s population.

PLDT booked a net income of P9.01 billion in the first quarter, down by 1 percent from P9.07 billion a year earlier.

Core income reached P8.6 billion, up by 5 percent year on year.

PLDT’s share price rose by P9 to P1,209 on Thursday.